Popular British content creator and Guinness World Record holder Jack Welsh, known online as JackSucksAtLife, revealed that YouTube has deleted his milestone channel Don’t Subscribe, which boasted over 1.27 million subscribers.
The channel was a central piece of YouTube history, created in 2020 as part of a high-stakes viral challenge issued by MrBeast.
Jimmy Donaldson had challenged Welsh to grow a channel with zero uploaded videos to one million subscribers, promising a 100,000 dollar payout if the goal was reached within a year.
Welsh reached the million-subscriber mark in 2021, marking what he describes as one of his most impressive accomplishments on the platform.
However, he noted that the channel’s profile picture vanished several months ago, followed by the complete removal of the channel page this week. Visitors attempting to access the channel are now met with an error message stating the account does not exist.
The creator initially suspected the deletion was due to inactivity, a process where YouTube removes accounts that have not been logged into for an extended period.
Welsh explained that he reached out to YouTube support for clarification but was told the platform could not assist unless he contacted them from the specific email address associated with the deleted account.
He noted the irony of this requirement, stating that if he still had access to the login credentials, the account likely would not have been flagged for inactivity.
A secondary inquiry to a separate YouTube representative suggested the channel might have been manually deleted rather than removed by an automated system.
This has added a layer of mystery to the situation, as Welsh maintains he did not delete the channel himself and is unsure if a member of Donaldson’s team, who originally set up the account, may have been involved.
Welsh is currently investigating the matter further and hopes to have a high-level representative at YouTube manually reinstate the channel.
While he still possesses the 100,000 dollar prize and a commemorative cupcake from the challenge, the loss of the digital asset represents the disappearance of a unique era in creator collaborations.
The creator, who manages a vast network of over 20 channels, also used the announcement to launch a new project titled Jack Sucks at Guessing. This new venture focuses on GeoGuessr content, a popular geography-based discovery game.
Welsh explained that he prefers starting fresh channels over repurposing old, inactive ones because the YouTube algorithm tends to favour new, engaged audiences over older, dormant subscriber bases.
Jack Welsh has built a significant career in the creator economy by specialising in YouTube meta-content, often focusing on the platform’s features, awards, and history. He currently holds several world records for the most YouTube channels with over 100,000 and one million subscribers owned by a single individual.
His primary channel, JackSucksAtLife, has over 4 million subscribers and remains a hub for his community interactions and play button collection updates.
